


The Dangers of Dancing

by Wagnetic



Category: due South
Genre: Dancing, Drinking, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2013-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 13:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wagnetic/pseuds/Wagnetic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It had taken a full day’s worth of cajoling, but in the end Fraser had agreed to accompany Ray to the club."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dangers of Dancing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [happy29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy29/gifts).



> For the "Nocturnal Shenanigans" prompt.  
> Much thanks to [redacted until reveal] for her wonderful beta-ing!

It had taken a full day’s worth of cajoling, but in the end Fraser had agreed to accompany Ray to the club. He’d reasoned that it would be better for Ray to have someone there to supervise him if he became inebriated, and besides, it would be a cultural learning experience. He really ought to have known better; or rather, he ought to have acknowledged that he knew better to begin with. Instead, he went along pretending that he didn’t suspect Ray’s motives for inviting him along, and that he had accepted the invitation because it was the friendly thing to do.

Ray had spent the better part of the night dancing with a young woman whose smooth brown skin and scattering of freckles were alluring enough to tempt even Fraser into a second look. Fraser had watched them move in perfect rhythm, smiling at one another and perfectly at ease. He’d seen Ray’s hand on the curve of her lower back, and the way Ray had leaned in close so she could hear him over the music. The picture they made together, the contrasting colors of skin and hair, the wide, solid curves of her body against Ray’s lean frame, her bright green dress and his well-worn jeans… They balanced perfectly. They looked right together and Fraser had been wrenched by the pull of his envy and longing. And all the while, Ray kept glancing back at him with knowing eyes and a daring smile.

That had been enough to bear, but then they’d begun to move through the crowd in the direction of the bar and Fraser had lost sight of them completely. By the time Fraser found them again they were pressed close together, their movements languorous and fluid. Perhaps it was the influence of whatever alcoholic beverages they’d consumed at the bar, or perhaps it was simply an effect of their striking compatibility, but for whatever reason they were nearly twined together now. The woman’s lips were at Ray’s ear and Ray was grinning, lewd and alluring, and Fraser couldn’t stand it.

He hadn’t planned to move towards them, but nevertheless he found himself standing beside Ray. “It’s late. We should go,” he said, but his voice sounded abrasive even to his own ears. Ray’s dance partner raised an eyebrow at him rather crossly, but Ray just laughed and let go of her, taking a step toward Fraser. He slung an arm around Fraser’s shoulder in a decidedly uncontrolled motion, full of intoxicated mirth and the shade of a different kind of mischief altogether.

“Frase, we only just got here. What’s your hurry, huh? Don’t you wanna dance?”

“You know I don’t dance. In fact I distinctly remember your comment that I moved like a block of wood.”

"Would you dance with me?” His voice was speculative and downright sultry, and this really had gone horribly wrong very quickly.

Fraser looked to Ray’s partner, but she only shrugged and said, “It’s not like I’ve got dibs on him.” Clearly she wasn’t about to provide him with an easy way out.

“Ray, I can’t.”

“Why not? I’m a good teacher.” There was that downright flirtatious voice again, and Fraser would swear in front of anyone that it was just the combined effect of the bright lights and the loud music that was making him dizzy.

“You’re inebriated. Give me the keys to the GTO and I’ll drive you to your apartment.”

“You wanna take me home, hmmm?”

“Ray, please stop this.” He could only hope that he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt. “This is— You’re not— You’re being rather rude to your lady friend.”

“It’s alright with me,” the woman said. “I told you, I don’t have dibs on him.” She smiled affectionately at Ray and for a moment Fraser thought she was about to ruffle his already mussed hair. “How about I give you guys some space? Ray, it was a pleasure as always. Have a good night, ok?” She turned back to Fraser then and fixed him with a considering gaze. “It sure took you long enough to come over; I was starting to think you were just going to stand there staring all night.” With a final smile at Ray, she turned and waded back into the crowd. Fraser stared after her until Ray waved a hand in front of his face, nearly smacking him in the nose.

“Don’ mind her. Becks likes to be dramatic.”

“Ray, what’s going on?”

“She’s a friend, Frase. A good friend. Met her here a while back an’ we hit it off. Plus I was drunk and I told her all my secrets.” He leaned in towards Fraser and lowered his voice to a secretive whisper. “Tonight was her idea. She thought if you saw us dancing maybe you’d, you know, come after me.”

“I don’t understand. Really, this whole night has been…” All thought left him as Ray drew him in close, closer, until he was barely far enough to see Ray’s face clearly.

“Dance with me.” His voice was low and sweet and persuasive. At that moment, Fraser thought, he would have been hard pressed to deny Ray anything. But it was that thought that chilled him and made him pull back from the comfort of Ray’s arms. It was like snow and beautiful words and pale skin growing paler. It was an ache pressed up against his spine. He jerked away and out of Ray’s embrace.

“I can’t.”

Ray watched him for a long moment, and then he sighed and fished the keys from his pocket. “Alright,” he said, but he took Fraser’s hand to press the keys into his palm and he curled Fraser’s fingers over them with hot and gentle hands, and Fraser was just as lost as ever.

 

It was Ray’s hands that Fraser thought about as he drove Ray home. He imagined them cupping his face and raking through his hair. Ray’s hands were always moving, articulate in a way that Ray’s words were not. To have those hands focused solely on him… That would be a gift beyond measure. Unable to restrain his whirring mind, Fraser wondered what it would be like if Ray were to massage him. Would Ray be gentle and teasing, rubbing at his neck and back so softly that Fraser could only feel his warmth? Would he be thorough and work Fraser’s tight muscles past pressure, into pain, and through it, leaving Fraser lax and boneless? And exactly how wonderful would it be to feel those hands on his skin? He would be so grateful to know. He could imagine kissing each oddly shaped joint and memorizing each whorl of each fingerprint. He would learn Ray’s hands by the feel of them so that he would know them even in complete darkness. He would learn them by taste, put Ray’s fingers in his mouth…

Cold fingers like frozen bones. Cold in his mouth, and around him everywhere, and sweet words in his ears turning to disdain and desperation. No, no. It was foolish even to think it, and it wasn’t fair to Ray. Ray was nothing like Victoria, nor were the circumstances of their relationship even comparable. Fraser had never betrayed Ray’s trust, and Ray would never abuse the power he held over Fraser. They were on even footing. They were friends and partners.

In the seat beside him, Ray snuffled and snuggled against the window. Even this simple gesture was enough to stun Fraser. How could Ray stand to be so trusting? Having been rejected and rebuffed so many times, how could he leave himself so exposed? But that was just like Ray, he realized. After all, Ray’s own relentless pursuit had been the cause of Stella’s frustration and impatience. Ray had none of Fraser’s own hesitance in matters of the heart. He felt deeply and unapologetically and acted on his emotions without hesitation. He wasn’t afraid of his passions, and that, Fraser suspected, was the heart of the matter.

Fraser could trust Ray with his life (and had, on more than one occasion) but he didn’t trust himself. He couldn’t predict what he would do if he let himself go. The lesson he’d learned from his dealings with Victoria was that he must always keep himself in check. Unrestrained, he would only bring himself and those he loved to harm. And what damage would his sense of justice suffer? If he let himself act on his love for Ray, would he then value Ray above all else, even the law? He would, he thought, though perhaps it was too late already. Maybe he’d crossed that line when he’d harbored Ray in the consulate during the Volpe case. Oh he’d acted within the letter of the law, but he’d been using loopholes for his own purposes, for Ray. Still, he’d acted to keep Ray safe while they found a way to clear his name, because he had known Ray was innocent. Even when Ray himself had been unsure, Fraser had known. He trusted Ray implicitly.

Perhaps that was the difference between loving Ray and loving Victoria. Fraser had known from the start that Victoria was a criminal and that her interest in him was at least in part self-interest. There was a distinct lack of trust between them from the start, and though they had relied on one another to survive the storm, the experience hadn’t altered the foundation of their relationship. It was in Ray’s best interest to get along with him of course, and it was vital that their partnership worked, but Ray didn’t need to be his friend. They could have worked together at the 27th and then gone their separate ways once Ray Vecchio had returned, but they hadn’t. Instead, they’d gone on their quest for the hand of Franklin and they’d only grown closer. When their quest had come to an end, Ray had looked at Fraser dejectedly and had said ‘I guess you’re staying up here then,’ and Fraser had opened his mouth to say that he was, and instead he’d said ‘I’m going back with you.’ He’d said so because he hadn’t wanted to be anywhere, even his home, without Ray.

Hadn’t he made his choice already, then? If he’d chosen Ray’s company over the call of his home, if he’d placed his trust in Ray even when it meant acting against his training, what did that tell him? Perhaps, then, it was time for him to trust Ray with this one additional part of himself.

Ray grumbled a bit when Fraser parked the car and attempted to wake him. Fraser shook his shoulder lightly and Ray said something unintelligible and petulant and shifted lower in his seat without ever opening his eyes. It was as endearing as it was frustrating, and even in his nervous state, Fraser couldn’t help but smile.

“You have to wake up now,” he said softly. “You’re going to be sore tomorrow if you sleep here all night and you won’t even earn a badge for it.”

“’M tired” Ray muttered.

“You can go back to sleep as soon as you’re in your apartment and you’ve drunk some water. It won’t do for you to become dehydrated.”

Ray grudgingly opened his eyes. “I drank plenty, remember. ‘S why you drove me home.”

"Yes, but you drank an excess of some alcoholic beverage or another, and the consumption of alcohol causes dehydration whereas the consumption of water prevents it.”

Ray blinked at him. “You’re touching me.”

He hadn’t moved his hand from Ray’s shoulder, had he? “Well, yes. I was endeavoring to wake you but you were rather disinclined to cooperate.” And still his hand rested there. It would be so easy to move it just a bit, to stroke the exposed nape of Ray’s neck. He could even bend down and kiss it, or lick it, or bite…

“You’re not scared to touch me anymore?” No, Fraser thought giddily, he was terrified.

“I can’t talk about it now.” It was the only honest thing he could bring himself to say. “Not here, with you intoxicated.” He squeezed Ray’s shoulder once, then let it go and opened the door on his own side of the car, and came around to open Ray’s. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.”

He ended up half pulling Ray out of the car and Ray leaned on him heavily with an arm tucked around his neck, ostensibly for balance. If anyone saw that Fraser had an arm around Ray’s waist too, well, it wasn’t as though this were a particularly unusual way for a man to guide an inebriated friend. They made their way unsteadily up the stairs and into Ray’s apartment, at which point Ray dropped onto the couch in an unceremonious sprawl.

“Come join me,” he said.

“In a minute. Let me get you that glass of water first.” In truth it was a delaying tactic and Fraser suspected that Ray knew it, but it would do Ray some good to ingest more liquids before he slept anyway.

Fraser went to the kitchen, took one of Ray’s cow spotted mugs, and filled it, then splashed some water on his face. The cold didn’t help to ward off his incipient panic, but at least it kept him from slipping into the idle worries or fantasies he had been experiencing periodically throughout the night.

Back in the living room, Ray was just as Fraser had left him. His shoes were still on, propped up on one arm of the couch. His head rested on his other arm and was tilted back, exposing the curve of his throat. He was more tempting than ever laid out like that, and the sight called to some baser part of Fraser’s nature. It made him want to growl like a feral thing and taste Ray’s skin and mark him there. Instead, he passed the mug to Ray and knelt on the floor so that Ray’s face was at eye level.

“Drink this,” he urged. Ray did, but his eyes came right back to Fraser once he’d finished drinking.

“Will you talk to me now?” he asked. His voice was gentle, coaxing rather than demanding, in an uncharacteristic show of patience. Even intoxicated, it seemed, Ray was aware of how difficult this was for Fraser.

“Not yet.” Ray’s lips thinned into a kind of grimace and he nodded decisively.

“Right, okay. You can go if you want to, Frase. I don’t want you to stay if you’d rather go. It took me years, but I learned that one eventually. Don’t wanna lose you as a buddy just ‘cause this is more than you’re ready for.”

“Ray, no.” Fraser took the mug from Ray’s hand and set it down on the coffee table, and then cautiously took Ray’s hand in his. “It’s not that I want to go,” he explained, “it’s just that I can’t have this discussion until we’re both sober. We have to be on even ground for this.” Ray squeezed his hand, and tentatively Fraser squeezed back.

“Will you stay then? We can talk tomorrow?”

“I’ll stay. Do you need me to help you to your room?”

Ray smiled wryly and shook his head. “Bad idea. Can’t promise I wouldn’t try to drag you into bed with me.” The thought of it made Fraser shiver.

“Alright,” he said. “Tomorrow, then.” 

 

In the morning he made coffee for Ray and tea for himself, and then he sat at the table and waited for Ray to wake up. It was unfair of him to be impatient with Ray now, especially after Ray had been so patient with him, but now it was Fraser who couldn’t sit still. Every minute he wondered if this was all a mistake. It wasn’t too late to back out now, and they could just continue their friendship without taking this immense risk. It would be the prudent choice, the safe choice, but as Ray was all too used to pointing out, Fraser rarely made the safest of choices. The image of Victoria’s face still lingered behind his eyes, and the prospect of taking this risk frightened him in a way that no perilous situation ever had. But Victoria was gone, and Ray was here, and Ray wouldn’t hurt him. He would stay.

Fraser heard the sound of doors opening and shutting, and then water running. Ray was awake then. Fraser listened to the sound of the water, thoughts whirring in unproductively until Ray came to join him. Ray was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, as usual, but his hair was still damp and it stuck up at odd angles instead of its usual gelled spikes. Ray’s smile was nothing like the drunken grins of last night, but no less beautiful for it. This was a cautious, warm, and slightly worn smile.

“You—” Fraser’s voice came out hoarse and abrasive and he had to clear his throat and try again. “You look tired. I made you some coffee, though if you’re feeling poorly after last night, water would really be a better choice.”

“Coffee’s fine, Frase. Coffee’s greatness.”

“Ah. Well…”

Ray poured himself a cup and counted out his preferred number of chocolate candies under his breath before he slid into the seat kitty-corner to Fraser’s. He took one small sip, testing the temperature no doubt, and then downed the coffee in a long series of swallows. He tilted his head back as he drank, baring his throat to Fraser just like he had the night before and eliciting much the same response. It wasn’t a gesture that he’d ever seen from Ray in public. Where others could see, Ray was wont to mask vulnerability with a kind of strutting machismo, and yet when it was just the two of them, he was willing to expose the most tender parts of himself. For the first time it occurred to Fraser that Ray was also taking a great risk in this.

“I… That is…” Of all the times to lose his speech, why must it be now?

“Look,” Ray said, “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want. I know I can get pushy sometimes, but I can wait. There’s no rush.”

But there was.

“I think I’ve delayed rather too long, if anything. But you have to understand that this isn’t easy for me.”

“I know, buddy. Take your time.”

Fraser looked down at his hands. Maybe it would be easier to say if he wasn’t looking at Ray’s face.

“You know that I… care for you. And I’ve told you before that I find you attractive. I didn’t tell you that just to make you feel better about yourself, and you know that as well.”

“And you know I feel the same way about you, right?”

“Yes Ray, I know. It’s only that I’ve lost so many people…” He couldn’t look back to Ray, not even to make sure that he understood. “I’m not normally so prone to melodramatics, but sometimes I feel that everyone leaves in the end. I don’t want to lose you.” He’d expected it to be harder to say, but now it felt as though the words were desperate to escape and tumbling one over another in their frantic scramble. “It’s foolish and I’ve been very selfish in my actions, but it was a kind of superstition I suppose. I thought that if I could act as though I wasn’t—and you weren’t—maybe I could keep you. You’re not mine to keep, of course, and I know that, but I—I just—I don’t want you to suffer and I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay, and I want you to dance with _me_ , and even if you’d prefer to dance with someone else once in a while, I want you to come back to me when you’re done because I’m your _partner_ , and I want you.”

Ray’s smile was brighter than ever, and Fraser knew his lips would taste of coffee and chocolate. His eyes were bright and the laugh-lines at the corners were deep with joy. Beautiful.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, Frase, but I’m sort of a one partner kind of guy, and it’s been you for a long time. I’ve just been waiting for you to take me up on the offer. I told you I wanted you to dance with me last night, didn’t I? The offer still stands, whenever you like.” Ray’s voice dropped at the last sentence and he must have been watching Fraser’s reactions this whole time because he tipped his head back again and Fraser just had to touch.

“Ray, God.” He had to stand, had to get his fingers on Ray’s throat and stroke the skin there. When Fraser brushed his fingers there, soft touch on smooth skin and up to the roughness of Ray’s stubbly jaw, Ray closed his eyes and sighed.

“I’ve been waiting for you to do that forever.”

Fraser could feel the vibrations of Ray’s voice, and they shook away the last bit of reserve he had left. He curled his hand over the nape of Ray’s neck and kissed him. It was a hard, fierce kiss, but Ray seemed perfectly content enough to slip his arms around Fraser and let it go on endlessly, or at least until his lesser lung capacity became a problem and he had to pull away to breathe.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for. We’re good. Hell, we’re better than good.”

“Greatness?” Fraser suggested.

“Definitely greatness. The absolute greatest of greatness. And by the way,” he paused here to give Fraser the sober equivalent of his wide, drunken grin, “I’d be more than happy to be yours to keep, as long as I get to keep you too. Fair’s fair, right?”

Fraser had to kiss him again, but this time it was Fraser who broke the kiss. “You need to know,” he said, voice harsh with needing, “I won’t want to let you go once I’ve got you. I’m already inclined to be possessive of you, and now it’ll be harder than ever for me to fight those urges.”

"So why fight? I don’t mind it. Hell, you know what I get like.” Another sly smile. “To tell you the truth, it’s a damn good look on you.”

And Fraser couldn’t help but laugh because Ray knew everything and he understood, and he was still taking everything in stride because of course he’d known all along. There were, Fraser knew, some things at which Ray was naturally far more adept than Fraser could ever dream of becoming, and intuitive leaps had always been Ray’s forte.

“You’re really alright with this, aren’t you? You really will stay?”

Ray leaned back in his chair, sprawled open and inviting. “If you’ll have me,” he said.

 “Oh believe me, I intend to.”

And so he did, and he found out firsthand just how well Ray could dance.


End file.
